KAUKAUNA — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will issue no citations after completing its investigation into the August 2022 industrial accident that killed one employee at the Ahlstrom Thilmany Mill.
Aaron Hobart, 29, died Aug. 16, 2022 in the accident.
In a letter sent Feb. 3 to mill officials, an inspection the day after the accident showed that one of the mill’s boilers suffered catastrophic failure.
In the letter, OSHA explained its decision in legal terms: “Since no OSHA standard applies and it is not considered appropriate at this time to invoke Section 5(a)(1), the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, no citation will be issued for this/these hazards(s).”
The letter OSHA recommended several voluntarily steps to eliminate or materially reduce employees’ exposure to the hazards described in the investigtion.
Among them are performing an assessment on the pipes where the level of degradation had been found in the pipe system due to the previous chemical cleanings and conducting annual inspections of the boiler system to determine the condition of the components.
Read all the the recommendations HERE.
A celebration of life was held last August in Hobart’s home town of Wisconsin Rapids.
He leaves behind his wife, Haley, and a young son.
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